Oral care implements, such as toothbrushes, are mass-produced articles and must therefore allow cost-effective production. Toothbrushes made of a single plastic material and toothbrushes made of two plastic components, which are produced for example by a two component injection molding process, are known. In the latter case, known toothbrushes generally comprise two parts: a first part made of a hard plastic material, for example polypropylene; and a second part made of a resilient plastic material, for example a thermoplastic elastomer. Typically, the first part, which is made of the hard plastic material, forms the structural portion of the handle and has a recess or channel formed therein. This recess is filled with the resilient plastic material, thereby forming the second part which acts as a gripping surface or cover.
The hard plastic and the resilient soft plastic are selected so that they bond with one another at the surface where the two plastic parts touch. In comparison with a toothbrush made of only one plastic material, this provides greater scope for design. Since, however, the two plastic materials have to bond with one another during the injection-molding operation, there are restrictions in the selection of the plastic materials and consequently in the design of the toothbrush.
One solution to the limitation that two plastic materials must bond with one another during the injection molding operation has been introduced by which a handle can be formed by two plastics that do not chemically bond within one another during the injection molding operation but rather utilize a mechanical connection, such as by inter-fitting portions of the two plastic components or by shrinking one plastic component about the other.
A need exists for an oral care implement, and method of manufacturing the same, that has a handle having greater design flexibility, is more cost-effective to mass produce, and/or affords comfort and control to the user during use.